


Nut Quest

by xXPokeFictionXx_Is_A_Horrible_Username



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: (technically) - Freeform, Accidental Stimulation, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Anger, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Aphrodisiacs, Attempt at Humor, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Awkward Sexual Situations, Beaches, Coconut Murder, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack and Angst, Crying, Denial, Denial of Feelings, Dirty Jokes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Repressed, Hope vs. Despair, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Island Mode (Dangan Ronpa), Komaeda Nagito's Luck Cycle, Labor Unions, Lust, Lust Potion/Spell, M/M, Machines, Man's Nut (Danganronpa Item), Men Crying, Mild Sexual Content, Minor Injuries, No Sex, No Smut, Not Canon Compliant, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Out of Character, Out of Character Hinata Hajime, Out of Character Komaeda Nagito, Panic Attacks, Poor Life Choices, Protests, Quests, Rage, Sexual Repression, Sexual Tension, Sobbing, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, The Author Regrets Everything, This Is STUPID, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Violent Thoughts, Walking, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25031803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXPokeFictionXx_Is_A_Horrible_Username/pseuds/xXPokeFictionXx_Is_A_Horrible_Username
Summary: Hajime goes to the Rocketpunch Market's vending machine and, unfortunately, comes across the Man's Nut. After making physical contact with it, he's overcome with the desire to hold onto it forever, but it's accidentally broken into pieces. There's a 1/117 chance to obtain the Man's Nut with each coin inserted into the MonoMono Yachine, but when all odds are against him, how is Hajime to reach his goal? Watch as our hero goes through the turmoils of denial, realization of feelings, the murder of a coconut, conflict, irrational rage, a peaceful protest for laborer's rights, and a mad quest to obtain the impossible. But, wasn't the real treasure awaiting us at the end of the Nut Quest the friends we made along the way...?(Though sexual feelings are described at length and some sexual content is implied, nothing explicitly sexual actually happens. Still, I tagged all of the related NSFW tags I could think of so that y'all would know what you're getting into should you read this monstrosity.)(Crack written seriously.)
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Mioda Ibuki, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito (implied)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 55





	Nut Quest

**Author's Note:**

> In case you're wondering what motivated this monstrosity:
> 
> Me and a friend got into a lengthy argument in which we discussed whether or not it'd be possible for the Man's Nut scene of Danganronpa 2 to take place in Island Mode; Though there's no way to access the scene in Island Mode, technically there should be no reason why it couldn't take place in Island Mode, as all of the proper components are there, but we have no evidence that it did. 
> 
> In order to try to use some actual logic in my argument, I attempted to calculate the chances that Hajime could obtain the Man's Nut from the MonoMono Yachine. This led to me deciding that his main source of income would be Hidden Monokumas, so I tried my best to use the total amount of Monocoins you could get from chapters 1-5 and the number of items possible to attain from the MonoMono Yachine to figure out the percentage of the chance of Hajime obtaining the nut if he used all of his Monocoins one by one. As it turns out, though, I suck at math, and though I had all of the numbers, I had literally no idea how to utilize them; Not to mention the function where if you insert multiple coins into the MonoMono Yachine at once, it lowers repeat rate...
> 
> I communicated this to my friend, who informed me that Hidden Monokumas, logically, wouldn't even be available in Island Mode, so Hajime's main source of income would instead need to be raising Virtual Pets. Of course, there's no limit to how many pets you can raise, so that basically murdered any chance of me using statistics, since eventually, if he kept trying, he'd get the nut guaranteed. I was also informed me of the vending machine in Rocketpunch Market, which I totally forgot existed, which ALSO invalidated all of my statistics.
> 
> Still, something about the information I learned intrigued me. I brought up the question of how to calculate this percentile to other people aside from my friend, but alas, found no answer. My musings brought me back to one particular fraction, over and over; 1/117. There are 117 items to be found in the MonoMono Yachine, and of those 117, one is the Man's Nut. 
> 
> This madness, the headache-inducing confusion, trying to solve this impossible equation... Something about it, of course, sparked my creative side; For an English assignment, I decide to write a poem about Hajime, agonizing over trying to obtain the nut, including the various numbers I'd found in my search for answers. 
> 
> I share the poem with my friend. It was received well. This made me pretty happy, despite me myself not actually liking the poem too much.
> 
> And then, of course, I get the idea; The horrid, terrible idea that led me here today. What if, just for kicks and giggles, I write a fanfiction about the Quest For The Man's Nut? It was supposed to be quick, easy, fun and silly. Not something to dwell on. But now, about 13,500 words later, here we are. Suffering.
> 
> I... Don't even know what to say at this point, dude.This got SO out of hand. Hope you enjoy anyway, friends...

Hajime Hinata had gone through a lot to get him to this point. And, when he said a lot, he meant a LOT.

One would expect that a statement like that would imply heavy, unforgettable trauma, but as it turned out, these events were too recent to warrant such a claim. Would he wind up forced to be haunted by the events of this tragedy for the rest of his life by the end of the ordeal? Yes, he’s almost certain he would. But, luckily, he hadn’t developed the PTSD just yet. Again, though, that was probably only due to the beginnings of this event only taking root a mere 5 hours ago. 

Still, this predicament was… Far from ideal.

Despite his logical side screaming at him, begging for him to cease, Hajime slowly reached into the small coin pouch he’d taken to carrying around the island and, hesitantly, slipped it into the familiar coin slot of the MonoMono Yachine. 

It rattled ominously. Slowy, a capsule tumbled out. Hajime felt his heart well up, hopeful, seeing as the capsule was just about the right size. Slowly, he opened it, and…

… Was met with  _ another  _ coconut. 

  
“DAMN IT!!” His voice tore out of his throat, ungodly amounts of rage taking over him. Unable to control himself, he stood up. He punched the godforsaken MonoMono Yachine with all of his might. His knuckles cracked ominously, but he was too blind with rage to feel pain, let alone listen to his own measly fingertips. 

Still high on the adrenaline, he let out another roar, and stomped the coconut under his heel. It shattered apart, chunks flying everywhere. A small piece of its milky insides stuck to the raging boy’s face. The cool sensation of the coconut’s flesh against his skin slowly brought him back to his senses.   
  
“God,” He sobbed out, voice strangled. “What have I  _ done?” _

The coconut’s juice glinted in the light, seeming grateful for the sentiment.

“How much force does it even  _ take  _ to smash a coconut?! What sort of monster have I  _ become?!  _ Am I really this pissed off over…” He choked, unable to get out the words; He knew, if he put a name to the object of his desires, the rage would take over again.

The coconut’s milk seeped into the sand sadly, upset that Hajime didn’t actually care about it.

He let out another strangled sob, falling to his knees.   
  
God, this wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth the torment. It wasn’t worth the  _ agony _ . And yet, here he was. 

  
He shouldn’t put another coin into the machine. He  _ shouldn’t _ . Not unless he wanted to become a shell of his former self and wind up as a hateful, rage-filled, coconut-murdering monster. Not if he wanted to remain human.

And yet, his hands trembled, already seeming so used to the motions of his agony. Hajime stared down at them for a long moment, not caring enough to try and still their movement.   
  
Slowly, he came to the sickening realization that they were mimicking the movement of sliding a coin into the MonoMono Yachine.

He cried out, mournful, immediately shoving his hands into the sand, desperate to stop them, or at the very least, to get them out of sight. 

“Stop it, stop it!” His logical side pleaded. “Don’t you see what you’re doing to yourself?! This ISN’T worth it! I swear it to you! I SWEAR!” 

And yet, a torrent of intrusive thoughts only snickered, reminding him of his motives, of what he was after. His heart pleaded that, for the sake of making sure this experience wasn’t a total loss, he should keep going until he got his prize. A more pessimistic, fearful side of him cried out that he wouldn’t be the same after this no matter what he did, so whatever happened, it didn’t matter.

  
One part of him wanted to lie, telling himself that he’d end up okay so long as he obtained what he needed here today. Meanwhile, a more creative part of himself was already coming up with ways to break into the godforsaken machine. 

Though his thoughts were jumbled and discombobulated, it was clear they’d come to a consensus; He needed to finish what he’d started, one way or another.

And so, his logic so clearly outnumbered, he slowly dug his hands out of the sand. Despite its ugly sobbing in his ears, desperately pleading for him to quit while he was ahead, he reached into the coin pouch he’d taken from the supermarket a mere 3 hours prior. 

His last Monocoin.

  
He let out a pained, watery chuckle, throat scratchy enough to make the sound nearly unrecognizable. He slowly inserted it into the infuriating, fake palm tree, the movement not entirely intentional. 

Another capsule rolled out.   
  
Small. Too small to be what he was looking for.   
  
He shook, trembling. He held the little capsule up to his face.

  
“It’s… Okay…” He muttered to it. “I know you’re not it. I know you’re not what I want. I know, I know, I know… B-But… I have to check… It’ll be okay… I know you’re not it… It’s gonna be okay, it’s  _ not  _ it…”   
  
He pressed a small kiss to the outside of the plastic for good luck, and desperately pried it open. 

A small, innocent bag of Century Potpourri lay inside.    
  
An inexplicable rage overtook the desperate student once more, and, twisting the capsule back shut, he chucked it at the MonoMono Yachine with all of his might.   
  
It rebounded off of it and bonked back against his forehead, knocking him over.

  
He groaned, tears filling his eyes; Whether they were from the impact of the capsule or his overwhelming emotions, he was unsure. He pounded a fist into the sand. 

  
“Damn it…” He wheezed. 

  
Calm down, Hajime… Calm down. It’s okay, you can do this.  _ You can fucking do this. _

“I need more Monocoins.” He sighed out, despairful. Slowly, he reached out, picking up the small capsule. He opened it up again and, twitching, put the bag of Century Potpourri into his backpack, another item he’d taken from Rocketpunch Market. 

He stood up, slow, and turned on his E-Handbook. Then, checking the steps required to hatch another pet egg, he began to walk.

  
Little did he know, though, a pair of eyes slowly looked away from his form. A pair of hands began to tremble, as a pair of eyebrows furrowed confusedly, worriedly.

  
“What…  _ Was _ that?” Nagito Komaeda muttered to himself. He didn’t quite know what to make of Hajime’s display, but whatever that was, it certainly wasn’t good… If he didn’t know any better, he might assume the other student was giving into despair…   
  
But he was an Ultimate, just as strong, just as hopeful as the others, right? Surely he wouldn’t… The symbols of hope would never give in so easily…!    
  
And yet, remembering the intense, pain-filled look across Hajime’s face, the mournful twisting of his expression… Nagito couldn’t help but find himself doubting.

“The duty of the talentless… To be stepping stones for the symbols of hope…” The boy reminded himself, quiet. 

He swallowed. “I… Need to help him. It doesn’t matter if he ends up caving my head in like that coconut. It’s… It’s for the best.” 

And yet, the boy's hands still trembled, fearful in a way he didn’t know he was capable of.

“For hope…” He sighed. And, movements slowed by a deep, primal wariness, the white-haired student moved to follow his companion.

* * *

It was a mere 5 hours prior that Hajime Hinata had decided to spend some time with Nekomaru Nidai. However, if he wanted to do so, he’d need to bring the taller man a present; He’d gotten himself into the habit of bringing his fellow classmates various gifts whenever he spoke with them. Those around him seemed to appreciate it immensely, so he hadn’t stopped yet. 

He was already very tired from trying to deal with holding a conversation with Hiyoko without it dissolving into bullying the sour child to the point of tears, though, so he hadn’t particularly wanted to walk all the way to the MonoMono Yachine to find a suitable gift. As such, he’d ended up making his way to the vending machine in the supermarket.    
  
It wasn’t a machine he often remembered existed, but it certainly came in handy in situations like these. 

So, stumbling wearily into the store, the exhausted figure quickly made his way to the back. Sighing, he looked through his options, trying to find something that the other man would enjoy. His eyes scrolled slowly through the options, until one item in particular caught his attention. He squinted, reading its label.   
  
Man’s Nut. 

  
“Huh”, He murmured, a strange shiver racing up his spine. An unknown feeling swirled in his gut. Though he wasn’t quite sure why, he knew that somehow, he had to obtain this item. 

It seemed to be simple enough, a big nut with a sharp edge on one side and a fluff-covered rounded edge on the other, but he supposed Nekomaru might enjoy it. Slowly, he began to insert his coins into the coin slot; It would take a while to insert the required 50, but he supposed that was his punishment for not simply walking to the MonoMono Yachine. As he slid the required currency into the machine, he looked towards the nut, squinting worriedly. “I wonder why-”   
  


“Hajimeee!” A familiar voice cried out, and before the boy could react or brace himself, he felt an overly-energetic weight crash into him from behind, arms wrapping around him. He lurched forward, elbow slamming into the glass of the machine. It broke into a thousand pieces, and both Hajime and his assailant yelped. 

  
“O-Oh, uhh, oops…” The voice murmured, suddenly far less excitable than before.    
  
“Ibuki, why?” The other student groaned, regaining his balance. He stared down at his arms, dismayed. He seemed relatively unharmed, though a few scrapes were present, one particularly deep one bleeding right above his elbow. “Great, now I’ve wasted, what, about 37 Monocoins?” 

“U-Um, it’s okay! We just broke the glass, not any of the machine-y bits! It probably still works!” She scrambled to justify, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender and smiling nervously. 

  
“You mean YOU just broke the glass, Ibuki. This wasn’t my fault at all. You’re the one who slammed into me.” 

“E-Eheheh… Sorry, Hajime...”    
  
Sighing, Hajime inserted the rest of the coins into the machine, figuring that Ibuki was probably right. Finally, he inserted the 50th coin. The machine rattled, the metal coil around the Man’s Nut twisting, but nothing happened, the item winding up stuck in the machine’s grasp.

  
“Oh, come on…” The student groaned. Deciding that he didn’t want to deal with trying to get the machine to release his prize, he simply reached in and grabbed it, Ibuki watching curiously.

  
His fingers brushed against the strange nut, and suddenly, he tensed, eyes widening.    
  
What… Was this? What was this feeling washing over him? This confidence, this longing, this desire…? Hajime suddenly felt as though he could do anything in the world without consequence, but strangely enough, his head was only filling up with the strangest of thoughts about what goals he’d like to achieve.

Even still, though, the sudden assurance made him feel like every nerve in his body was set alight in the best way possible. The student couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever been so sure of himself, if ever. Slowly, he tightened his grasp around the nut, and just as he was about to pull it away from the confines of the broken vending machine-   
  
“S-Stop!” A small voice suddenly cried out. Hajime flinched, hand reeling back from the item as though he were burnt. He turned to see none other than Usami, looking alarmed.   
  
“Y-You can’t steal from the vending machine! You have to pay for that!” 

“But… I did. It just didn’t drop the item I wanted properly, and the glass was already broken, so… I just grabbed it...” The boy explained, dazed. He stared down at his palm as he spoke, unable to fully focus. It was trembling before him. His brow furrowed. 

  
“W-Wait…” Usami trailed off, taking in the state of the vending machine properly. “E-Eek! Wait, it’s broken! You can’t be near here, you might get cut by the glass- W-Wait, Hajime, you’re ALREADY cut! Oh no!” 

“How’d ya notice he was stealing before you noticed that the machine was broken?” Ibuki chirped. 

“I wasn’t stealing…” Hajime mumbled distractedly. 

“I get an alert whenever somebody tries to take anything that they haven’t paid for.” The rabbit explained, suddenly looking prideful. “I can hear it from anywhere on the island, even if I can’t see what’s going on yet! My ears are very sensitive, after all!” 

“But I did pay for it.”    
  
“W-Well, um… I guess there might still be some bugs to work out… But, still, that’s besides the point!” Usami squeaked. “Get away from the glass, you’ll hurt yourself even worse!” 

Ibuki, obidently, took a step back. Hajime stared at the nut for a long moment, before the shorter Ultimate grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him backwards as well. 

“A-Ack! Geez, a little warning next time?!” Hajime snapped, world suddenly back in focus. 

“But you weren’t moving!” 

“I was about to!”    
  
“Oh.”    
  
“U-Um, if it’s alright with you guys,” Usami interjected, “C-Can you please leave the store while I try to fix this? You can come back if there’s something you really need, b-but I still want you guys to be as far away from this mess as you can be…” 

“You got it, chief!” Ibuki chirped.   
  
“Right…” The taller of the two agreed, and, casting one more glance at the strange nut, he slowly tore himself away, his friend skipping along behind him. Usami began trying to find cleaning supplies, mumbling to herself worriedly.

Pausing for a moment, the taller student stopped and grabbed a pack of band-aids from one of the nearby shelves. He looked down at it, tightening and untightening his grip dazedly, before continuing forth. 

Slowly, Hajime came to a stop outside of the supermarket’s doors. Ibuki slowed beside him, glancing up at his conflicted expression questioningly.

“Ibuki…” He began worriedly. “Did you…  _ Feel  _ that?” 

“Huh? Feel what, Hajime?” She asked. “Ohh! Wait, don’t tell Ibuki! Is Hajime, perhaps… In love?!”    
  
She giggled excitedly as Hajime put a palm to his chin, brows furrowing.    
  
Love…? No, not quite. Something similar, perhaps, but not love… 

Ibuki blinked, smile dropping as she noticed the boy’s silence.   
  
“Wait… Did Ibuki get it right?! Is Hajime in LOVE?!” She gasped, eyes sparkling excitedly. “Oh, FINALLY-”    
  
“N-No, that’s not it! And don’t say that so loudly, geez!” The brunette barked, snapping back to attention. “It’s… Not that. I mean… I guess it started when I touched that weird nut…” 

“Ah? Hajime’s in love with a nut?” The musician questioned, frowning.

“Wh- _ No,  _ I’m not in love with the nut!” He snapped. “Why would I even-?! Just… No, that’s not it, seriously.” 

“Oh. Good, cuz that’s a little weird, even by Ibuki’s standards…”    
  
“Yeah, agreed... No, what I felt was more like… Confidence, maybe? I don’t know, but as soon as I touched that nut, I felt like I was a totally different person. It’s like my whole body was on fire for a second…” 

The musician fell strangely silent. The boy glanced over to her, and was met with pink eyes boring straight into his soul.

“... Hajime... Are you sure you’re not in love with the nut?”   
  
“NO, IBUKI, I’M NOT IN LOVE WITH THE NUT!”    
  
“Okay, okay, geez!” She surrendered, holding up her palms. 

Suddenly, Hajime felt as though he was being watched, a shiver racing up his spine. He turned to see the familiar face of Teruteru poking around the corner.    
  
“Oh, great. What do you want?”   
  
“ _... In love with the nut, _ you say?” He questioned quietly, an excitable edge to his expression.

  
“Wh- No! You’ve got it all wrong, that’s not what’s going on at all!” 

  
“Oh…” He sulked. “Alright, then what’s happening?”    
  
Sighing, Hajime took a moment to explain the situation to the Ultimate Chef, taking extra care to make sure he didn’t wind up misinterpreting the situation. 

“Hmm, I see… Sounds a bit like how I get when I see a good ingredient!” He chuckled darkly.   
  
“... And how’s that?” The taller brunette questioned hesitantly, slightly afraid of the answer. The look on the shorter’s face as he spoke did  _ not  _ ease these worries. 

  
“Hungry!!” Ibuki chimed in before the chef had a chance to respond. Teruteru looked as though he wanted to interject, but seemingly thought better of it. 

“Hmm, no, not  _ hungry,  _ exactly. I don’t really know how to explain it…” Hajime lamented, shoulders sagging.

  
“Well, why don’t we just go poke the nut to find out?” The musician suggested. He paused.

  
“That’s not a bad idea, actually… But won’t Usami stop us?”    
  
“Ibuki’s sure she’ll understand if we explain! If Usami knows that Hajime’s feeling weird nut feelings, she’ll totally let us poke it!” 

The tallest of the Ultimates fell dead silent. Teruteru, meanwhile, smirked widely. 

Hajime sighed. This was going to be a long day.   
  
“... Whatever, let’s just get this over with…” 

“Right!” The musician chirped. The chef nodded alongside her, still looking as though he was enjoying this situation far too much. 

Quietly, Hajime opened up the door to the supermarket, poking his head inside. Strangely enough, he doesn’t see Usami anywhere. He quickly relayed this information to his classmates.

“Huh… Welp, no one to stop us, then!” His female companion grins, and without further delay, bursts through the doors. Hajime winces, expecting to hear Usami’s scolding voice from somewhere nearby, but strangely enough, nothing happens. 

“Weird…” He mutters, before slowly walking inside himself. 

The musician, without hesitation, darted over to the nut and grasped it in her hands. The quieter boy followed behind her slowly, cautious, yet feeling a strange, almost magnetic pull towards the item in the girl’s hands.

“W-Wait, isn’t there supposed to be an anti-theft alarm or something?!”   
  
“Guess it must’ve been deactivated after Usami noticed the machine broke or something!” The girl grinned. She examined the nut for a moment, tossing it between her hands.    
  
“Huh, Ibuki doesn’t feel anything!” She smiled.

“Huh? T-That’s not right… I couldn’t have just imagined that!” The taller of the two squeaked. 

He… Couldn’t have, right? Surely what he’d felt wasn’t exclusive to him…?    
  
No. It couldn’t be. He wasn’t just some nut-obsessed weirdo, surely. 

“Okay then! Teruteru, you try it!” Ibuki called, and without further warning, chucked the nut at the aforementioned chef.

  
He fumbled with it for a moment, before finally succeeding in firmly grasping it. 

  
Suddenly, his eyes widened. Hajime froze, concerned. 

He stood quietly, staring intently at the nut in his hands for a long moment. The shorter boy looked at it almost as though it held all the secrets of the universe, as though he comprehended endless information as he looked to it. 

This was a look that would’ve been _ far  _ less alarming if not coming from Teruteru. 

A second later, blood bursted out of his nose, streaming down his face steadily and startling Hajime out of his train of thought. 

The chef tensed, a low hum escaping his throat. His expression cycled through various emotions, too quickly to be identifiable, before settling into visible worry, shortly thereafter morphing to a small, disbelieving grin, followed in turn by regret. Then, suddenly and with a slight wince, the chef suddenly shifted back, gathering an obscene amount of force in his grip, before chucking the nut straight into the wall.

  
It shattered into a thousand pieces.    
  
“Woah!” Hajime’s eyes widened, and he whipped to face the chef. The smaller boy had a vaguely guilty, remorseful expression, as though he’d seen something he shouldn’t have. It wasn’t an expression the other student had seen on Teruteru before, making his uncertain stuttering of, “W-What the hell was that?!” All-the-more frightened. 

“Well?” The musician began, excited and apparently ignoring what the chef had just done. “It looks like you’re feeling weird nut feelings too, right?!” 

Hajime winced. “U-Umm,-”

“Y-You could say that, yeah…” The chef choked out, squinting suspiciously at the remains of the nut. A heavy silence fell over them, but Teruteru did not speak again. 

Ibuki’s eyes shifted back and forth between the two brunette students, before boredom began to taint her features. Eventually, she shrugged, before casually striding over to a nearby shelving unit, grabbing a sparkly rubber ball and tossing it up and down.

The silence persisted for a moment longer, before Hajime spoke. “S-So…” He began, making his way closer towards Teruteru, worried. “You felt it too, then?”   
  
“... Sure did…” The other sighed, sounding strangely winded.

The anxious boy paused, almost not wanting to press on. His curiosity, though, got the better of him. 

“Well… Do you know what it is?” 

The chef was silent for a long moment, before his gaze shifted slowly to Hajime. Suddenly, his eyes widened, glancing down quickly before darting upwards just as speedily. He paused, wincing, and began speaking again. “... I… Should probably go...” 

“Huh?!”    
  
The red-clad boy looked towards the wall, eyes hazy and slightly panicked, as though remembering battles long past, a hand cupping his chin curiously. “Listen, I’ve gotta go,  _ now _ . Uh, but you shouldn’t try to look into that nut any further. You might end up doing something bad…” 

“Huh?!” The hazel-eyed boy gasped. “What- Teruteru, what does that even _ mean? _ ! What did that nut make you  _ feel?! _ ”    
  
“... G-Goodbye, Hajime. I have some…  _ Things  _ I need to take care of.” The Ultimate Cook breathed out, and without further explanation, walked out of the supermarket in a rush, leaving the confused boy behind him.

“Huh…?” 

“So!” A familiar voice chimed from behind him.

“Gah!!” He yelped. “Ibuki, don’t do that!”    
  
“Eh?” She blinked. “Did you forget Ibuki was here?”    
  
“N-No, I just thought you were still by those shelves?”    
  
“Well, since Teruteru’s gone, Ibuki figured she should come back over! He finally started talking to you, yeah?” 

“O-Oh, okay…, Uh, and yes, he did...” He sighed. 

She beamed back at him, excited. “Great! So, did he help you figure out what the weird nut feelings were?”    
  
“Well, no, he just left...!” The taller student exclaimed. “Isn’t that weird?”    
  
“Huh… Yeah, actually…” The girl frowned. “Welp, we can figure it out on our own, right Hajime?”

“Y-Yeah… Yeah, right…” He answered hesitantly, the cook’s warning still ringing fresh in his mind. “But… Where should we start?”   
  
“Well, touch the nut again! Even if it’s in pieces, it should still work, right?” Ibuki grinned.

  
“Huh, well, I guess that’d make sense, yeah…” 

The girl grinned widely. “Really?! Ibuki had a good idea?!”    
  
“Yeah, ‘course.” He nodded. “Now come on, let me try this…”    
  
An excited spark entered the Ultimate Musician’s eyes. “Okay!” She agreed, cheery. 

  
Slowly, Hajime approached the shattered remains of the nut, its shell splintered and pointy. He crouched down onto his knees. Gaze sharpening, a slightly-tanned hand reached towards the sharp bits of nut and, hesitant, the boy carefully scooped up as much of its remains as he could.   
  
Immediately, a warm feeling washed over him, blood rushing through his veins. He felt his face beginning to heat up, his brow furrowing. He felt as though his head was filling with static, and though it was lesser than the jolt of electricity he’d felt touching the nut before, he still felt quite unnerved. He began to feel short of breath.

For some reason, he only grew more hungry for contact with the nut as time went on, and every moment he felt himself growing more desperate. The feeling may have been concerning to him had the nut’s energy not been washing away every one of his concerns, steadily drowning out his logic. 

Panting, he guided more bits and pieces of the nut into his hands, Ibuki watching on with silent intrigue.    
  
Suddenly, he jolted, wincing as he jabbed his hand into a particularly sharp piece. He let out a quiet hiss, pained. Yet, for some reason unbeknownst to him, it only seemed to fuel his irrational excitement more, making him all-the-more desperate to collect the pieces of the broken nut. 

Muted, almost as though his head was underwater, he heard a drowned-out, “Ah- Hajime, you’re bleeding!”, but yet, he did not cease. Instead, he merely proceeded in his previous action, only trying to gather the nut’s remains ever-further. Some distant, instinctual part of his mind, though, knew that the broken pieces of the former-whole would never be enough to properly satisfy him.

Even still, though, he was growing only hungrier, craving nothing but the touch of the splintered object.   
  
His desperation, though, was cut off by a voice, much higher-pitched and significantly harder to tune out.

“Ah- Students, what’re you doing here?!” The voice of their “teacher” cried out in alarm. Hajime flinched instinctively, pulling away from the shattered nut. “It’s dangerous, and- Oh my goodness, Hajime! What’re you doing around that broken, stolen item?!” 

He blinked, slow and hazy. “I told you, I already paid for this.” He replied, as though coming out of a trance. 

“That doesn’t matter right now- Oh my, I should’ve never disabled that anti-theft alarm, I just can’t believe- WAIT, oh my gosh, is that B-BLOOD?!” The rabbit cried out in alarm, panic expanding every second. 

Hajime blinked, fully processing the already half-known information, before glancing back at his hand. Sure enough, there was a small piece of the nut jabbed into his flesh, a thin stream of blood flowing down his index finger. Spacey and dazed, he grabbed hold of it and yanked, a small gush of the liquid spurting out of the wound, prompting a quiet noise of intrigued disgust from Ibuki and a full-on squeal from Usami. 

He begrudgingly dropped the bloodied piece onto the floor, and almost immediately felt a rush of clarity return to him, the world back in sickeningly-intense focus. For a brief moment, he regretted his decision, absentmindedly running a gentle palm over his injury.

“G-Gahh!! Don’t do that!”    
  
“Huh?” The hazel-eyed boy tilted his head questioningly. “It doesn’t even hurt, it’s not that bad.” 

“N-Nonsense! Look how much blood there is!” The panicked rabbit insisted, tone so dire that Hajime wouldn’t be surprised to find himself bleeding out as he looked back down at his palm. 

But, alas, this was far from the case, only a thin coating of the substance present.

“Ohh, how could I let this happen?! Especially while you were already hurt…!” She continued on, anxious. 

“... You’re making a bigger deal of this than you need to.” He concluded. “Really, I’m fine-”    
  


“Nuh-uh! Letting you stay here any longer would be reckless! Please go and get that wound bandaged up! I’ll stay here and clean up this mess!” The bunny insisted.

“H-Huh? Wait, no-”   
  
“NO EXCUSES! Both of you, out!” The tiny figure insisted, and with a surprising amount of strength, both the musician and the Ultimate ??? were pushed out of the building, stumbling a bit as the doors clicked shut behind them, locked. 

“Wha- Hey!!” Hajime cried out, indignant. “It’s not even painful!”   
  
He received no reply. After a long moment, he sighed, shoulders slumping defeatedly. 

“Well!” A familiar voice chimed from beside Hajime. It took all of his willpower not to flinch, not wanting to alert the energetic girl to the fact that he’d momentarily forgotten about her presence for a second time. “What did that teach you, Hajime?” 

“I-I… I’m not entirely sure…” He confessed, thinking deeply. “When I was holding that nut, I… I just knew it’d never be enough. I wanted more and more. It… Drowned out all of my ability to think, until all I wanted was to have it… I barely even felt it when I started bleeding. It just made me feel so… I don’t know… Alive?” 

Ibuki blinked, long and slow, before her eyes narrowed.   
  
Now, Ibuki wasn’t an idiot, despite popular belief. Was she overly energetic and a bit ditzy? Sure she was, and she couldn’t be blamed for that! But even so, she was more observant than often given credit for. And, matching up Hajime’s questionable descriptors with his previous facial expressions and body language while he was touching that nut… 

Well, this was starting to seem rather familiar to her, something she’d obviously felt before, as most teens did.

The issue, of course, was communication.

“Um, Hajime… Ibuki isn’t quite sure how to say this, but…” She swallowed. Hajime raised a brow, confused by the brash girl’s sudden hesitancy. She began fiddling with her hands. “Are you, um… Ugh, whatever, Ibuki’s just gonna say it, Hajime, do you wanna fuck the nut?!”

“WHAT?!” He cried out, alarmed. “No, of course not, WHAT?! It’s a nut!” 

“No, no, don’t just deny it so quickly!  _ Really _ think about it! This is important!” The musician insisted, gaze hardening. 

“H-Huh? No, I…” He paused for a long moment. Slowly, his expression shifted from alarm to utter mortification, morphing then into dawning horror. Ibuki frowned, sympathetic. 

“I… I don’t… Wanna… I wouldn’t… Not… Not exactly…?” He stuttered out, seeming too embarrassed to form proper words, face as red as Mahiru’s hair. 

Though making Hajime embarrassed was usually a delight to Ibuki, in this case, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, his expression fragile and almost pathetic as he shot down her claims. 

“Okay, so not the nut, but you still feel pretty heated, huh?” The musician prodded on.

He fell silent at this, a slight choking coming from his throat as he tried to speak and failed. He paused, seeming to try and find words, before slowly nodding, hesitant and looking as though he’d rather be anywhere else.

“I-It’s okay, Hajime! Those feelings are, um, perfectly natural!” Ibuki fumbled, not having expected to have a conversation like this today. “It’s, uhh, not anything to be ashamed of! And even if it was, it’s not your fault it happened!” 

He groaned, covering up his face, the pink-eyed girl’s words clearly making things worse. 

“R-Really, it’s not!” She pressed, growing more nervous as the usually-sarcastic student’s embarrassment heightened. I mean, you didn’t know that would happen! You were just curious, that’s all! If anything, it’s Teruteru’s fault for not warning you!” 

“Hu- Huh?!” He choked. “Wait, so when Teruteru left, that means he went to… Oh, fuck, why?! God, I did NOT need that mental image...!” 

“... Ah, gross neither did Ibuki… Wow, Ibuki’s made things worse, huh?” The unhelpful one mused quietly.

The embarrassed presumed-Ultimate paused, eyes widening and utter horror dawning across his expression. “Wa-Wait… But wasn’t I the one who asked him to touch that nut in the first place?!”   
  
“Hajime, you didn’t know, okay? Just… Try not to think about that too much.” Ibuki reassured gently, wincing. 

The other student made a hoarse sound, something in between a groan and a sob, covering up his face with his hands. “I can’t believe this is happening…” He mumbled, muffled slightly.

“... There there, Hajime…” The Ultimate spoke, patting the boy’s shoulder, completely out of ideas. 

“I… I feel like all of my soul was just forcibly sucked out of me… I… Need to go lie down and think this over…” The boy murmured.

  
“Sure, sure, Ibuki understands. Go get some rest, okay?” The girl with the multicolored hair replied, uncharacteristically soft. Hajime hummed his affirmation, before slowly trudging off, his gait like that of a man who’d lost all faith in life. 

Her brow furrowed. She couldn’t help but feel concerned, but knew that any attempts to help would only upset him further. The energetic Ultimate decided to go to the music room to jam this worrisome feeling away, her own gait much like that of a woman about to write a song about how you shouldn’t be ashamed to touch nuts so long as they’re rightfully purchased from a local vendor and sustainably sourced. 

* * *

It was an hour later now, and Hajime Hinata felt like he was losing his damn mind.

He couldn’t get to sleep. He recovered a bit, locked away in his cabin and away from sight. His exhaustion was mostly mental, and luckily, being locked away from other humans seemed to steadily ease that. However, he’d planned to take a nap, hoping that a good sleep would help him understand his situation clearer. 

Yet, as he stood still, unmoving under his blankets and staring up at his ceiling, a small seed of yearning was beginning to take root in his head. He did his best to ignore it, of course, but it only continued to grow as time went on, taking root and filling his thoughts until he couldn’t stand it any longer. 

As it slowly became apparent he couldn’t ignore the feeling, he began trying to deny it instead. His thoughts, after all, were growing quite ridiculous. The truth was obvious.    
  
He wasn’t feeling a yearning. He wanted to stay in bed.   
  
He didn’t long to get up. He wanted to fall asleep.

He didn’t desire to find something to ease his worries. He wanted to rest. 

He didn’t want the nut.   
  
Hajime couldn’t help but feel his face twitch as he thought of it, his expression unknown to him. Why? Why was it that, after everything he’d learned, after what he’d discovered, he was still thinking about that stupid Man’s Nut? 

It was so insignificant. Just another dumb item out of the dozens of far-better things he could attain on this island. It was far inferior to many of the things he’d seen in this place so far, less wondrous, less valuable. Hell, it was even inferior in terms of  _ sex-related  _ items. Believe it or not, he’d seen far worse come out of the MonoMono Yachine… 

_ (He shuddered at the thought.)  _

On every account, he had no reason to care about the nut. Sure, it had ended up embarrassing him in front of Ibuki, but honestly, there were far worse people to make a fool of himself in front of; All in all, she wasn’t really the type to judge. And yes, it may have inadvertently caused Teruteru to go engage in some very Teruteru-like activities, which, technically, was partly his fault. But he was sure that the small chef probably went to do such things over far less… Stimulating matters. He was, in all likelihood, not even unique on the front of  _ personally causing  _ such things. 

So… Why? Why was he still so hung up over it…?    
  
He rolled onto his side, curling in on himself. A weary hand gripped tightly onto his hair, hazel eyes piercing as he stared at his wall. 

It was a simple item, really. It seemed to work as an aphrodisiac when held, and strangely enough, only seemed to work on men; That, or Ibuki was unique in being unaffected, which seemed unlikely. When broken into pieces, its effect seemed lessened, though when it’d punctured Hajime’s skin, it’s effects had been heightened again. 

That… Seemed to be all there was to it, really. A simple, unassuming item. It seemed almost comical, imagining all of the mischief something like that could cause. A potentially nasty trick, but now that Hajime knew of it, it would be far harder to use on him. And besides, there were far more appealing targets for something like that; Someone more sensitive, like Teruteru or Kazuichi, or perhaps someone who’d react more outlandishly, like Byakuya or Gundham. Surely, he wouldn’t be the first person someone would want to use that on.

Yet, for some reason, the thought of something like that being used on him… A strange, writhing energy coiled up in the boy’s gut. He paused. That… Wasn’t entirely fear.

No, this was…

… Excitement?   
  
His eyes widened. The student’s expression was torn into a wince as he tossed back and forth, hands over his ears as if to block out his own thoughts.    
  
No. No, no, no, no, no. That  _ wasn’t  _ what that was. Never. He’d never want to be humiliated like that, and he’d never want for something like that to happen to him unknowingly. The thought of being drugged like that was  _ terrifying. _ The fact that it’d even cross his mind… It was incredibly unlike him.

He squeezed his eyes shut tight, imagining all sorts of horrible scenarios, each flashing behind his eyelids faster and more dreadful than the last, until the very idea of it was too horrible for him to dwell on for any longer. 

He quickly realized that he didn’t want to be forced into such a sickening situation; The part in which he was drugged and made a fool of wasn’t the part that he was fixated on, of that much he was certain. 

So then, what…?

His mind drifted back to the nut specifically, the nut instead of Viagra or whatever the hell else could be used for something like this. The thought of it being tenderly sliced up, insides pale, slipped into his food… Though the thought still made him recoil, a twinge of something unfamiliar accompanied this feeling. 

  
Then came the striking image of those hands being his own; Of himself knowingly using the nut’s unusual power. Slowly, the terror ebbed away. He imagined himself, in the privacy of his own room, taking the food back to where he was alone, and suddenly the fear was gone and Hajime could feel a harsh flush overtake his face.   
  
Clearly, it wasn’t the masochism or the bullying or the issues of consent that appealed to Hajime, no. The issue was none other than the nut. 

He winced, the back of his throat enveloped in a sickly-sweet aftertaste, and he had to fight the urge to break into tears. 

What was  _ wrong  _ with him...? 

“I… I don’t want to fuck the nut… I don’t…” He mumbled to himself, empty reassurances echoing in his empty cabin.

And, to be fair, he didn’t. No. He just wanted to hold the nut, to bring it close to him, pulled against his chest until he couldn’t stand it anymore, having to be  _ closer _ , to have to push it up and under his shirt, bare skin tingling, electric, pressed against his heartbeat, until a feeling of uncontrollable desire would sweep over him, grip tight as he slowly shifted it away from his sternum wandering to his abdomen and-

“Oh, GOD no!” He yelped, hands moving from his hands to his cheeks as he slapped himself lightly, snapping himself out of the troublesome line of thought. He rolled back onto his back, face twinged red for more reasons than one. 

He swallowed harshly, his hands trembling lightly. Well, at least he knew what the issue was, right…? Now that he knew, surely he would be able to get himself in check; Surely he’d be able to rationalize how ridiculous that strange fantasy was, reject it, and get to sleep, right...? 

… Surely so.

* * *

  
It took about five minutes for Hajime to realize that no, in fact, he was  _ quite  _ incorrect. 

Instead of the dangerous thoughts of the strange item fading away, they only grew stronger and stronger, and now that he knew the source of his excitement, his mind seemed able to come up with fantasies that would appease him, all of his sensitive desires combined together and leaving him to be mercilessly tormented. 

It was frantic, all-encompassing. It left the young student breathless and weak, yet restless as well, feelings pummeling him all at once. 

Frankly, Hajime found it to be incredibly unpleasant, to the point where he’d want to do almost anything to get rid of it. 

_ Anything, you say?  _ Whispered some foriegn, sadistic part of his mind.  _ Even go and get the-? _

  
“No!” Hajime cried aloud, startling even himself a bit. The cabin responded with only deafening silence.   
  
“I… I can’t resort to  _ that _ …” He continued meekly, trying to justify himself, to ignore that the thought had crossed his mind at all. And yet, the judging quiet of the cabin was all that remained as he fell silent. His breathing began to grow scarce, as though crushed under the pressure of imaginary eyes. 

He slowly moved his hands to his chest, covering up his heart, as though trying to protect it. 

  
And yet, his mind only continued to torment him.

* * *

  
It was twenty minutes later when Hajime finally broke.

“Maybe… Maybe I just need to get it out of my system… I-If I see that stupid nut again, maybe I’ll realize how dumb it is…?” He murmured, fragile, quiet.

The cabin doesn’t reply.

* * *

Pale pink police tape, decals of Usami strewn about in between text reading “Please Do Not Enter Unless Necessary, Under Construction!”, had been posted in front of the supermarket. Though it would be easy to duck under it and try to go inside anyway, Hajime wasn’t quite desperate enough to deem his endeavours  _ necessary.  _

Instead, he waited patiently. He was fairly certain it wouldn’t take someone as “magical” as Usami long to fix a stupid vending machine. 

As he waited, he paced around the island, idly taking care of his virtual pet along the way. Unbeknownst to him, something terrible was beginning to brew underneath the surface, the pieces of his agony falling into place as time ticked forward, despair approaching like an oncoming train. 

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Rocketpunch Market was finally open. Hajime rushed inside, anxious to get his lusting over with. Quickly, though, he was met with a horrifying realization.

  
“Wha- Where’d the vending machine go?! It’s GONE?!”    
  
Surely enough, the nondescript machine was gone, another simple, symmetric shelving unit in its place. For a moment, the boy couldn’t believe his eyes.

  
“Uh-huh!” A familiar, squeaky voice piped up from behind him. He whipped around, met with none other than Usami.

  
“WHY?!”    
  
“Well, I got worried seeing how easily you and Ibuki could’ve gotten hurt by it…” She began. “There was glass everywhere and you ended up getting cut… And seeing how easily the shell of that broken item was able to hurt you too, well… I had to make sure that wouldn’t happen again… Your wounds could’ve easily been far worse...”   
  
“Wh- So you REMOVED the WHOLE vending machine?!”    
  
“Yep!” She smiled brightly. 

  
“B-But…” Hajime stuttered. In all honesty, he’d never cared about the vending machine at all before this, so he couldn’t say it’d be missed. Yet, without it, he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his strange fantasy… He had to think of something. 

“I… I never got my item!” He cried.

  
“Huh?”   
  
“My item!” The student repeated, elated as he realized the validity of his words. “I never got my item back, even though I paid for it!”    
  
“But… Didn’t it get broken?”   
  
He paused, quickly trying to formulate an excuse. “... Yeah, but that wasn’t my fault! Teruteru threw it against a wall!” He decided, voice more certain in himself than he felt.

“Hu-wha?! Oh no!” The rabbit cried. “Why would he do such a thing?!” 

He froze. “U-Uh… Dunno…”   
  
“Hmph! Well, I’ll make sure to give him a stern talking to! Breaking other people’s stuff is a big no-no!” She huffed, paws placed against her hips sternly.

Hajime nodded absently. “Right, right… So, uh… Could I maybe get a replacement?”   
  
“Huh? O-Oh… No, I’m afraid I already got rid of all the old stock… I-I’m sorry…” The plush animatronic whimpered.    
  
“What?!” He cried. “You got rid of it all  _ already _ ?!”   
  
“M-Mhm… My magic wand makes things like that easy…” She admitted.

  
“That’s… Ugh.” He sighed. “Whatever, I guess. Nothing I can do. Thanks anyway, Usami…” 

The faux-teacher grinned. “No problem!”

With that, Hajime exited, sighing. Welp, his hopes were sufficiently crushed. There was no way to get the nut now. In a way, though, he was relieved. Though his legs ached from walking, he felt much better after the hour of alone time he’d gotten. So, he began trying to recall his plans for that day, and quickly remembered Nekomaru. 

Though he doubted he had the strength to talk to someone so high-energy at the moment, he still thought back to how perfect his idea had seemed at the time. He sighed, beginning to walk towards the beach and find a companion to speak with that would be less likely to make him undergo physical activity. 

It was almost funny, how things had ended up like this. His day was supposed to go great, a solid plan in place so that he could get everything he wanted to do done in a timely manner. If only he hadn’t gotten lazy and decided to go to Rocketpunch Market for a present in the first place, this whole Nut Predicament would’ve never happened! He should’ve just gone to the MonoMono Yachine inste-

Suddenly, he froze, realization seeping into his bones.

The MonoMono Yachine. 

His quest to find the nut was suddenly possible again, he realized, the palm tree shaped prize machine holding his only hope. And, as quickly as it’d ebbed away, his desire came back, striking at full force. 

Strangely enough, instead of feeling excitement, as one may usually feel when finding out a way to achieve the impossible, Hajime’s shoulders merely sagged sadly. 

* * *

Sitting cross-legged in the sand, coin after coin was inserted into the slot of the MonoMono Yachine. Time and time again, Hajime was met by failure, the Man’s Nut nowhere in sight. Eventually, he’d used up all of the coins in his pocket. He frowned.

“Well… At least I’ll be able to not have to worry about getting presents for everyone from here for a while.” He sighed. “But how do I get more Monocoins…?” 

He stood up slowly, wondering what to do and beginning to pace. It was then that his E-Handbook beeped, a notification popping up; His pet, a simple Snakemi had been fully raised. He was promptly rewarded for his efforts. 

His reward, of course, happened to contain 100 Monocoins.

His eyes widened. 

  
“Of course…” He murmured. “Well, if this doesn’t work this time, looks like I’ll have to do a lot more walking…” 

  
He tried again.   
  
Once more, he used up all of his coins, and once more, he failed to obtain the nut.

He sighed, beginning to grow frustrated.

It took another full attempt of the student raising a pet and spending all of his coins without getting his prize before Hajime cam to a realization; He’d grown quite sick of needing to worry about not having to drop his coins, and he’d also gotten pretty tired of needing to take his prize capsules back to his room after every dozen or so coins inserted.

As such, he traveled to the Rocketpunch Market and quickly attained a few items to help along his journey. Soon, backpack over his shoulders and coin pouch in his back pocket, Hajime continued forth on his quest.

* * *

It took a few more attempts for the rage to fully set in. 

  
Now, Hajime was normally a fairly patient person. However, this MonoMono Yachine was, by far, the most frustrating thing he’d had to deal with for a long time. 

Normally, he had no troubles with the strange device whatsoever; He merely inserted a few coins until he found something he thought the person he’d next speak with would like, and he’d move on. It never took long.

  
However, now that he was looking for something specific, it seemed that the world had turned against him; No matter how many coins he inserted, the nut never appeared. 

As such, he wasn’t in the best of moods when Ibuki had found him circling the island. 

“Hajimeee!” A familiar voice called out, just as it had a couple hours prior. The breaking of the vending machine, an item he considered useless to him for so long before the encounter, seemed so far away now…    
  
Instead of communicating those thoughts, though, he merely sighed, turning to the energetic girl. 

Strangely enough, she hadn’t tackled him, as she usually would’ve by now, but was instead simply standing behind him, a wide grin across her face as she practically vibrated in place. 

  
“Hi, Ibuki…” He responded, fatigued. She looked at him expectantly. Hajime merely tilted his head in turn. 

“Hey!” She cried out, barely able to contain her excitement. “Ibuki didn’t want to tackle you, since it got you into so much trouble last time, but Ibuki still really wants a hug!”    
  
“Oh, that makes sense.” He sighed. “Alright, c’mere.”    
  
“Yay!!” She cried out, wrapping her arms around him tightly. He wheezed, feeling as though his ribs were caving in. Luckily, she released him quickly. “Thanks, Hajime!”    
  
“Yeah, yeah…” He replied, still breathless from her tight grip.   
  
“Soooo! What’cha doin?” She grinned. 

“Walking to try and take care of my stupid pet… You know, in the E-Handbook?” He explained. She nodded, a curious glint in her eye.   
  
“Hmm, you don’t seem very happy about that?” She states. Hajime nods. “Then… Why are you doing it?”   
  
“I need more Monocoins…”    
  
“Eh?” She blinks. “For what?” 

He freezes.    
  
For obvious reasons, he couldn’t tell Ibuki that information. However, she’d surely pick up on it if he tried to dodge the question. So, he decided to give a vague answer, merely stating, “I need them for the MonoMono Yachine…” 

“The MonoMono Yachine?” She repeated, curious.

  
“Mhm… I’m trying to, uh… Stockpile presents for everyone… I got sick of having to go back there every few days…” He mumbles.

  
“Ohh, Ibuki sees!” The Ultimate Musician grinned widely, seeming to believe him completely. “So you’re getting coins for that!”    
  
“Yeah, but it’s really frustrating me… Raising up these dumb pets are the only way for me to get them, but it takes WAY too long… My legs are starting to hurt, too. Really sucks…” 

“Mm, yeah, that’s true… But you were supposed to rest today, weren’t you?” The musician questioned, a concerned look crossing her face.   
  
“Huh?”   
  
“You were supposed to rest, since tomorrow you’re supposed to help Mahiru and Hiyoko gather tree vines for those flower pins Usami wanted us to make, remember?” The girl elaborated. 

“Wh- Oh no! I completely forgot about that!” He wailed, a palm striking his forehead in exasperation. “Damn it, now I’m gonna have to deal with being all sore while I work tomorrow! Why does Usami want these stupid pins so badly anyway?!” 

“Ibuki’s not sure… Because they’re cute?”

“Yeah, but isn’t she supposed to be magical or something?! Why doesn’t she just make them herself? We shouldn’t have to be forced into this!” The enraged student ranted, growing more frustrated with each word.   
  
“Hmm, Ibuki thinks you have a point…” The shorter of the two agrees. “But didn’t she tell us it was to build bonds with each other or something?”   
  
“Ugh, but there’s so many OTHER ways to do that! Manual labor shouldn’t be at the top of that list! And we don’t even get anything out of it!”    
  
“Huh? What do you mean?” Ibuki asked, and at this, Hajime paused. His frustration slowly began redirecting itself, as he began to speak the words that had been lingering in his mind for a while now, even since before the start of the Nut Incident.   
  
“What… You haven’t noticed it?” He began, voice lowering. 

“Huh? Noticed what?” Ibuki replied, genuinely oblivious. 

“All we get out of our work is those stupid Trip Tickets!” He cried.   
  
Her head tilted. “Mhm! What’s the issue?”   
  
“Wh- Don’t you think that’s stupid?! That’s not a good reward at all!”    
  
“Huh?” The musician blinked. “Ibuki doesn’t see the issue! Ibuki likes spending time with her friends! And, after all, isn’t friendship the greatest reward of all...?” 

“No, no, it’s not the spending time with people part that’s stupid! It’s the tickets themselves!” The boy growled out, frustrated.   
  
She frowned. “Ah? Ibuki doesn’t follow?”    
  
“Well, after we finish working for the day, we get free time, yeah?” He began, eyes narrowed and annoyance evident.

  
The energetic girl paused. “Yeah, that’s right…”    
  
“And that free time is ours to gather Hope Fragments with, yes?” 

“Yes, that’s right…”    
  
“And we can talk to whoever we want during that time, unless we’ve already gathered all of their fragments, in which case we need to use tickets, right?”    
  
“Yes, yes, Hajime is right! But why is that important?” The girl asked, confusion evident.

“But WHY?”    
  
“Huh?”   
  
“Why do we need the tickets in the first place if we can just go talk to people on our own already?!” The student exclaimed. “It’s OUR time, we can spend it how we want! We don’t need tickets to talk to anyone! So why does Usami insist that we do? Why can’t we just talk to each other without any of her weird strings attached?!” 

Ibuki paused, considering his words. After a moment, she looked up to Hajime with wide eyes. “Hey, yeah…!”    
  
“See?! We should just be able to talk to each other no matter what, especially after we’re forced to waste most of our time on such pointless work! The entire idea of Trip Tickets in the first place is stupid! But that’s ALL we get in return for our efforts! So, essentially, we’re just working on making these dumb hairpins and whatnot for nothing! That’s just child labor!”    
  
“You’re right!” Ibuki gasped. “Ibuki didn’t think about it like that before, but you’re TOTALLY RIGHT!”    
  
“Exactly! We should at least get SOMETHING in return for our efforts!” He continued, passionate. “And if we’re going to work, why can’t we work in return for, oh, I don’t know, the only proper currency this place has?!”    
  
“Yeah!- Wait, what?” She paused.

“The Monocoins, Ibuki!”

“But… The Monocoins aren’t even that useful in the first place?” She questioned.    
  
“Well, yeah, they’re a bit questionable, but at least they have more use than those stupid tickets! And besides, you can get all sorts of cool stuff from the MonoMono Yachine with them! If we’re really supposed to enjoy our island life here, shouldn’t we be able to have access to that stuff without walking twenty eight laps around the island first?!” 

“Well, Ibuki supposes you have a point… Still, Ibuki hasn’t really tried out the MonoMono Yachine. What’s so great about it, anyway?” She asked, genuinely curious.

  
“Wha- You haven’t? No wonder you aren’t as pissed as I am about this!” Hajime growled. “Ibuki, I’ve gotten you a present almost every time we’ve hung out, right?”   
  
“Mhm?”    
  
“Every present I’ve ever gotten you has come from that dumb MonoMono Yachiene.”

“Huh?! So you mean the headphones, and the tuning forks, and even the snacks were all from…?!”    
  
“Yeah!” Hajime confirmed. “And, if we had a more reliable way to get these Monocoins, you’d be able to get all sorts of cool stuff like that any time you wanted!”    
  
“No wayyy!” Ibuki yelped. “ALL of that?! And MORE?!”    
  
“It’s almost too good to be true, isn’t it?” The boy sighed, relieved that his friend finally understood his frustration. Though it wasn’t what had actually upset him to begin with, he couldn’t help but feel a bit better now that he’d gotten some of his other grievances about his island life out there. 

“This is… This is unbelievable! We… We gotta do something about this!” Ibuki exclaimed.

  
Hazel eyes blinked back at her, confused. “Huh?”   
  
“Yeah! We can’t let such injustice stand! Ibuki’s gotta do something about this!” She went on. “Ibuki’s… Ibuki’s gotta write a song! Spread awareness! Or, no, even better! Ibuki’s gonna start a RIOT!”   
  
“Huh?!”    
  
“Yeah! Ibuki’s gonna start a prison riot!” She grinned maniacally. “Ibuki will scream and cry and commit arson until she proves her point! Down with the hierarchy! Eat the rich!” 

“N-Now, hold on, if you get violent, Usami’s not gonna wanna listen to us… She might just get rid of the MonoMono Yachine like she did with the vending machine if she thinks it’s causing problems…”   
  
“What?! Oh no!”    
  
The somewhat sensible boy nodded. “Exactly, rioting would be a bit counterproductive…” 

“Well… What  _ can  _ Ibuki do…?” She questioned, quiet and genuine.    
  
The other student thought for a moment. “... Well, you could try a peaceful protest?”    
  
“Huh?”    
  
“Yeah. Signs and chanting and stuff.” 

“That’s a GREAT idea!” Ibuki called out, laughing and regaining her enthusiasm as quickly as it’d gone. “Ibuki’s gonna protest! She’ll make the signs now! Oh, and she’ll tell the other students so that they can get in on it! This is gonna be GREAT!” 

“Haha, well, I hope you have fun then, Ibuki. Good luck.” Hajime grinned, feeling better watching how enthusiastic his friend was about this. Though her energy could be exhausting at times, it really did help him to feel a little brighter in times like these. 

“Huh…? You’re not joining in, Hajime…?” Ibuki asked, suddenly looking a lot more down. He froze.

“Uhh, well… I still needed to get everyone presents, remember?”    
  
“Oh yeah… Well, you can come join us after, right Hajime?” She asked, eyes gleaming hopefully.   
  
“Um, sure?”    
  
“Hooray!” She cheered, slinging her arms around him tightly. “Thank you, Hajime!”    
  
“Oof!” A rush of air left his body, the impact of Ibuki’s form startling him. Nevertheless, he wrapped his arms around her in turn. “N-No problem, Ibuki…”   
  
“Ibuki’ll go get started now! See ya, Hajime!” She called, before quickly skipping off. Hajime took a moment to regain his breath, before chuckling nervously.    
  
He wasn’t exactly sure where Ibuki’s protests would go, but he hoped for the best for her. Even though he hadn’t quite expected for his complaints to be taken so seriously, he couldn’t deny that a change in the current system would be nice. He supposed that it’d end up fine, so long as things didn’t get too out of hand… 

He sighed, before a small noise emerged from his pocket. He blinked, reaching towards it and flipping open his e-Handbook, noticing a notification from his pet.

  
Remembering his quest, his shoulders sagged. Right. The stupid nut… 

Though the break had been nice, it was time to get back to the task at hand… 

Once more, Hajime began to walk. 

* * *

It only took a couple more attempts for Hajime’s good spirits to dwindle and fizzle out once more. Soon, he was back to being just as upset as before.    
  
It didn’t take long for him to get even more upset than previously.

It’d only take a few more cycles for Hajime to become the rage-filled, screaming husk that he’d become. In the span of a simple 5 hour period, his mind felt as though it was breaking to pieces. 

  
He began to walk, to try to hatch yet another pet egg. 

And here in the present, Nagito Komaeda watches with fearful eyes. 

* * *

It took Nagito a solid 5 minutes to gather the conviction needed to go and try to talk to Hajime. 

The brunette student, of course, was still pacing around the island, going nowhere in particular, just as he had been for the past few hours. Exhaustion seeped into his core. 

  
So, when Nagito had finally approached, Hajime was already on edge. 

“Hey there, Hajime!” The white-haired boy called, trying his best to sound calm and collected, to keep the tremor out of his voice as he approached the other.    
  
“Oh, Nagito. What do you want?” The shorter student replied curtly, eyes narrowing as he looked back to face him. Nagito shuddered. The boy’s stride was slowed, allowing the taller to catch up, but he didn’t stop walking. 

“I, ah, don’t mean to disturb you, Hajime, but I couldn’t help but notice that you don’t look so well. You seem to be having some, um, difficulties…” 

Finally, the other stopped, eyes widening. “Difficulties…?” He repeated, disbelieving. “W-What do you mean by that?”    
  
“Well, I’ve been watching you for about ten minutes or so- Ah, not in a creepy way, though! Someone like me knows better than to stalk someone as hopeful as you! I just, um, couldn’t help but notice that you seemed… Frustrated… So I got a bit concerned, is all…” The lucky student rambled. “You… You’re trying to get something specific from the MonoMono Yachine, right?”

Hajime paused, a dreadful look across his face. His eyes pierced into Nagito’s, scanning them for… Something. They were dark and scrutinizing. His fists were clenched at his sides.

Once again, the image of his head being caved in just as the coconut had crossed Nagito’s mind. He shuddered, growing nervous under Hajime’s stare. 

Luckily, though, the brunette of unknown talent seemed to be satisfied with whatever answers he’d gained from his staring, and nodded to Nagito slowly. It took the boy a moment to remember what he’d asked. Sucking in a sharp inhale, he continued.

“Well, if you need it, I can help you, Hajime! I have spare Monocoins saved up! If it helps you combat this despair you’re facing, I’d be more than happy to give them to your cause!” He smiled, nerves easing as he remembered how much his contribution could help.   
  
“I…” The shorter paused, before sighing. “I can’t take your Monocoins, Nagito… Not… Not for something like this…” 

“Huh? Why not?” He frowned. 

“I just… I wouldn’t be able to handle the guilt… I… I can’t do that… Not for  _ that _ …” He mumbled, as if it took all of his strength to reject him. 

“Oh, I see…” Replied Nagito, though he didn’t understand at all. “In that case… Maybe I could help in some other way?”   
  
“What… Do you mean?”   
  
“Well, I may not be at all comparable to my fellow classmates here in terms of talent, but whether I like it or not, I do have my luck on my side… Maybe if I open the capsules for you, or insert the coins, I’ll be able to find what you’re looking for?” He offered hopefully, an easy smile across his face.   
  
“That…” The other paused. “... Would actually be really helpful… Thank you, Nagito.” 

The green-clad boy grinned widely, joy overtaking his expression. Finally,  _ finally  _ he could be of some use to an Ultimate! The excitement of being able to assist the brunette almost made him forget, for a moment, the violence he’d seen him display.    
  
“It’s no problem! I’m happy to help, really!” He replied, joy evident in his every movement. 

“Cool, glad to hear it…” The other replied. “Anyway… Come on, I still need to walk for a bit longer. I’ll be able to get more Monocoins soon.” 

Nagito’s grin grew even wider. Hajime was inviting him to walk alongside him? What an honor!    
  
Instead of saying anything in reply, though, the white-haired boy merely fell into an easy stride alongside his classmate. Silently, the two walked, hope blooming in their hearts.

* * *

“Alright, finally! The pet’s done being raised!” Hajime called, relieved.

  
“Oh, good!” The taller of the two smiled politely in return. “So it’s time for us to head back to the MonoMono Yachine, then?” 

“Yep.” The brunette nodded. Though there was a twinge of annoyance to it, he seemed far more optimistic than he was before, which Nagito considered to be a plus. 

“Okay. Oh, by the way, Hajime…” He began. “It was pretty moronic of me to forget to ask this, but what is it that we’re going to be looking for, exactly?”   
  
The aforementioned froze in place, eyes widening. Nagito stilled as well, worried. 

A dark look, once much like he’d held before, crossed his expression. Slowly, his hazel eyes locked onto Nagito. It took all the green-eyed boy had in him not to let his composure break. 

“It’s… It’s called the Man’s Nut. It looks pretty normal at first glance. You… Should know it when you see it.” The shorter of the two finally mumbled, expression solemn. Slowly, the lucky student nodded, fearful. 

“Got it…” He replied. Hajime nodded, and like nothing had happened, he continued forward in silence.   
  
However, the dark look in his eyes still lingered. It only grew heavier as the MonoMono Yachine finally came into his view. 

Slowly, the two came to a halt. Hajime sat down in the sand, and Nagito quickly followed his lead. 

“Alright, I’ll give you my coins, and you just insert them into the slot, alright?” Hajime confirmed. Nagito nodded, and Hajime handed him a small coin pouch. The boy followed the brunette’s instructions easily, and a small capsule rolled out of the machine. He heard the other student growl from next to him.    
  
“U-Uh, what’s wrong?” The taller questioned.

“Too small…” He muttered. “Not it…” 

“O-Oh… Sorry…” Nagito muttered, and without warning, opened up the capsule. Hajime’s growling grew louder, causing the taller one to flinch; As expected, the item wasn’t the nut. Instead, a beautiful silver Hope’s Peak ring lay inside. Though Nagito couldn’t help but admire it, he knew it wasn’t what Hajime wanted, and thus dismissed his interest in the item and handed it to the other. 

“A-Ahaha… What bad luck…” The boy chuckled nervously. “Are… You alright?”    
  
“Yeah, yeah… Just fine… Just… Keep going…”    
  
“O-Okay…” Nagito mutters, before inserting another coin. This time, Hajime saied nothing. He opened it up, but once again, the Man’s Nut isn’t there.

Instead, there lies a coconut. 

Hajime screams. 

The white haired boy flinches, genuine terror crossing his features for a split second, before his expression went entirely blank.   
  
_ “For hope…”  _ Nagito reminded himself, suppressing his fear.  _ “It doesn’t matter what happens to me, so long as it’s for the sake of hope.” _

But, instead of having his neck snapped as Nagito had expected, Hajime merely covered his face and began to sob. 

  
“E… Easy there…” The other choked out, awkwardly patting at his shoulder and immediately hating himself for doing so. 

“I… I can’t take this anymore…” He wailed, guttural. 

  
“U-Um… How about you, uh… Turn around for this next one? That way, you don’t need to look, alright?” The green-clad Ultimate offers. Shakily, Hajime nods, turning around and staring into the distance. 

Another coin was inserted into the machine, and another capsule rolled out. This one was much larger, and likely doesn’t contain the item either. The lucky student swallowed harshly before popping it open. He feels what he’s fairly certain is Hajime flinching behind him, the air around his back shifting. 

“... Not it…” He mumbled, handing it to Hajime. The boy hummed dully in response, leaving Nagito to silently insert another coin.

  
This pattern continued for quite some time. Hajime’s trembling, flinching, and growling got progressively worse as time went on, the usually-composed boy seeming almost feral as rage filled up his every cell. In turn, Nagito grew more and more frantic, rushing to get through the Monocoins so that he could escape the other student’s wrath as soon as possible.

The lucky student didn’t at all fear dying a painful death. Were it to perpetuate hope, he knew he wouldn’t mind. He was calm thinking of it, even joyous at the thought of assisting the Ultimates. 

He didn’t fear death. At least, that’s what he’d  _ thought  _ before he’d gotten himself into this situation. He was all-too-ready to shove a spear into his stomach at a moment’s notice, and yet, somehow, hearing a figure so respectable falling apart from behind him filled him up with an instinctive fear that he didn’t know himself to be capable of.

Eventually, Hajime leaned against his back without warning, the white haired boy flinching at the contact but deciding to let the other stay where he was nonetheless. Nagito wasn’t quite sure why he’d done so, whether for comfort or simply because he was exhausted, but either way, he merely continued his ministrations quietly, discomfort growing.

  
The feeling of Hajime against his back only made the experience all-the-more fear inducing, as now he could feel the rumbling of Hajime’s breathing, of his shifting, of every noise that escaped his lips as he opened up each new capsule. 

Still, he pressed forward.

Each capsule went by faster and faster until Nagito’s hands couldn’t move any quicker, and with each capsule, Hajime seemed to get more and more unsteady. It took a long time for the coin pouch to empty, but finally, the last coin was held in the white haired boy’s hand.

He exhaled slowly, and decided that he wouldn’t tell Hajime that this was the last one until he’d already used it for fear of making the boy snap before he even inserted it. So, slower than the last few, Nagito inserted the coin into the slot. The MonoMono Yachine rattled in response, before the final capsule slowly tumbled out.

It seemed to be the right size, the Ultimate observed. Slowly, he reached out, and opened it up. 

He gasped quietly as he laid his eyes on the item inside.

_ “Could… Could it be…?”  _ He thought to himself as he stared down at it. Had he not been so pumped full of adrenaline, he may have chuckled; Leave it to his luck to make him worry and doubt until the very last moment. 

Slowly, wanting to make sure his eyes were seeing the object correctly, Nagito reached out to take the item out of the plastic bottom of the capsule. 

This, as it turned out, was a costly mistake. 

* * *

Hajime remained sitting behind Nagito for quite some time, too lost in thought to process what was going on. It was as though his mind was on autopilot, twitching and fidgeting at the sound of a capsule opening and breathing shakily with every item handed back to him. Eventually, items stopped coming his way, Nagito instead choosing to form a pile next to them, leaving the smaller items, of which were harder to keep track of, in their capsules. 

This left the brunette entirely to his own devices, as he had nothing left to do but mourn what had become of himself.

Why  _ had  _ he gotten so invested in this, anyway?   
  
Fatigue had creeped into the darkest corners of his mind by now. At this point, his curiosity had been all but demolished. This was no longer about the pull of the nut, or his strange wish fulfillment. It was no longer about putting his fantasies to rest, about letting himself succumb to his desires for the sake of finally being able to move on with his life, no.

At this point, he realized, he didn’t even  _ feel  _ the magnetic energy of the nut anymore. 

All he wanted now was to regain his lost time. The only way he felt he could fulfill this hope, though, was attaining the nut. 

  
If he left now, he’d be at an absolute loss. Nothing at all would be gained from this experience except for embarrassment and regret. At least if he got the nut, he would have accomplished his goal. 

But, even if he ended up getting the nut, would that fix any of his problems? Or would it simply leave him more desperate and crazed than ever before?   
  


For a brief moment, he considered consulting Nagito. Nagito, though self-deprecating and strangely fixated on the idea of hope, seemed at least somewhat sensible. Maybe he’d be able to give him some proper advice…?    
  
But, as his mind returned to his current situation, to the boy he was leaned against, he realized something.

  
The beach had fallen silent. The only sound present was the crashing of waves and the cawing of seagulls.

Capsules weren’t being opened anymore. 

He froze, suddenly tuning into all of the sound around him. Could it be…? Had it really stopped?    
  
As his focus increased, he noticed the sound, the feeling of the taller boy. His shaky breathing, quiet, unsteady, rasping against him. The warmth against his back, slowly beginning to tremble. And, suddenly, he heard the boy let out a quiet sob.

“Huh- Nagito?!” 

Hajime whipped around, and much to his horror, found Nagito in tears. The boy was holding a small, brown object-

  
Wait…   
  
Hazel eyes widened, horrified. 

“N-Nagito…”    
  
“I-I’m…” He choked out, sounding uncharacteristically fragile. “... D-Disgusting… I-I-I’m...” 

“Easy, easy, i-it’s not your fault…! I-I’m sorry, I… I should’ve warned you…!” The other exclaimed, panic rising in his chest. 

The lucky student didn’t seem to hear him, only continuing to mumble insults to himself, a white-knuckled grip on the nut. The brunette could only watch, horrified and rendered speechless, watching the nut’s horrid power overtake his fellow classmate. 

Slowly, the other’s hands inched closer to his chest as his musings got progressively more violent.

  
“H-Hope… I-In the… F-For hope, I… I-I should… M-My chest…” He wheezed out, growing progressively more inaudible. “... Ribcage… I-I’ll… Bury it… H-Heart… Blood… Hope…! I…!” 

“Nagito!” Hajime broke out his shocked state, eyes widening and a desperation, one of panic and concern rather than excitement or lust as he’d experienced previously, overtaking him. “Nagito, what’re you saying?!” 

“I-I should… Die here…”

  
“Huh?!” Shock wrapped its hands around Hajime’s frantic heart once more, Nagito giving him a sickly, terrified grin, green eyes overflowing with tears.

“M-My corpse… P-Perfect fuel… F-For plant growth… And ho-hope…” 

“What?!” 

A hollow chuckle emerged from the boy’s throat, hoarse and unstable. Slowly,the nut rotated in the boy’s hands, until it’s pointed edge was pointed right at the sobbing student’s sternum. 

“W-Worthless, stepping stones, the talentless…” He continued, somehow beginning to sound more coherent. “S-Should all… Die-”   
  
“No, that’s wrong!” Hajime interjected, and in his panic, slapped the nut out of his fellow student’s hands. 

  
Surprisingly, this was incredibly effective, the nut tumbling easily out of the lucky boy’s desperate grip and rolling a few feet away. Had Hajime not been so panicked, he would’ve wondered more about that; Nagito was clearly holding onto that nut with all of his strength, and yet he’d let it go so easily. Was he truly that weak, or was Hajime stronger than he thought? 

  
But, that was far from Hajime’s concern; Instead, he focused in on the still-sobbing, dazed Nagito in front of him. He shook, a dark look in his eyes. 

Slightly tanner hands reached forward, gripping the other’s paler ones, making sure that he was stuck in place, unable to reach the nut if he even tried. After a moment, they gripped back with just as much desperation. 

“I-I’m… Disgusting. I don’t deserve… To feel… That…” He mumbled, shaking like a leaf.

“Please, Nagito, it’s okay now! You’re okay, I’m right here…! I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise!” He reassured weakly, unsure of what to say in order to help the distraught Ultimate, or if the other even heard him.   
  
The only response Hajime received was a wheezy chuckle. Though he was unsure whether or not it was in response to his words, he took it as a good sign. 

“Please, breathe with me, alright? Y-You’re hyperventilating…” 

“R-Right… Anything for you… Hajime…” He smiled weakly, suddenly making eye contact. The brunette startled for a moment, before tightening his grip on Nagito slightly, breathing a sigh of relief and doing his best to keep the white-haired boy grounded as he regained his bearings.

It took a long while before he was in proper condition to talk, but once Hajime felt it was safe, he couldn’t help but be curious. Quietly, a question escaped his lips. 

“I-If you don’t mind telling me, uh… What  _ was  _ that, exactly?”   
  
“I’m… Not entirely sure… Well, to start with, as soon as I touched that  _ thing _ , I started feeling, ah,  _ bad  _ things…” He began, a strange lilt emphasizing the second-to-last word.   
  
“ _ Bad? _ ” Hajime repeated curiously, having a feeling he wasn’t referring to the mania he’d seemed to experience just yet.    
  
“A-Ahaha… Truly, I’m a disgusting human being…” The taller replied, wrapping his arms around himself and not elaborating any further. Hajime knew, without him needing to say anything more, that he’d initially felt the same things he had. 

“Ah, I see… But… How did those feelings escalate into  _ that? _ ”   
  
“Well, the longer I held onto it, the worse it got… Things got violent pretty fast. Before I knew it, all I could think of was stabbing it into my chest and bleeding to death… A-Ahaha… What horrible luck… If only I’d said something as soon as I got it, that wouldn’t have happened…” The green-eyed boy chuckled darkly. 

“I… Don’t think that was exactly your fault, Nagito…” Hajime murmured, the pieces of a puzzle seemingly unsolvable finally falling into place. He thought back to his initial fantasy of the nut, the one he’d cut off preemptively, not wanting to know where it’d go; Taking off his shirt, shoving it against his chest, and most likely stabbing its pointed end straight into his stomach and bleeding to death. “W-When I first encountered it, I ended up feeling the same way… But I ended up losing contact with it before my thoughts got violent…” 

Nagito paused briefly, before his face flushed slightly. “Ah, I see… What rotten luck…” He repeated, and Hajime was inclined to agree.

“... And I assume that after your initial contact, you must’ve been feeling the same way I am now, yes?”

The hazel-eyed boy blinked. “Huh?”

“Even after all of that, I still can’t help but want to hold onto that worthless garbage again… It feels pretty disgusting. That must’ve ended up being why you went after it, right?” Nagito explained patiently, eyes staring into the shorter’s, calm and nonjudgemental. 

“... I never thought of it like that…” Hajime realized. “I thought that the effects wore off as soon as I stopped touching it, but that must not’ve been the case… And that’s why I don’t seem want it anymore now.” He concluded. “But… If that’s true… You’re still going to be wanting to find that thing for at least a couple hours…” 

Nagito’s easy grin fell, expression more solemn, but not surprised. “... I see.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, okay?” Hajime reassured him. “I’ll make sure not to let that thing anywhere near you. And I’ll do my best to distract you while the effects wear off.” 

“H-Huh? Oh, no, you don’t need to do that!” Nagito insisted, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I wouldn’t want to be more of an inconvenience than I already have been! I’ve already wasted your precious time enough…” 

“No, no, really, it’s the least I could do. I mean, you helped me out with finding this stupid thing even though you were afraid of how I was acting, right? It’d make me feel bad not to return the favor.” 

Though Nagito wanted to object once more, he was too caught off guard to do so; Hajime had actually noticed how unnerved he was…? He supposed he was worse at hiding than he thought. He should’ve expected better from an Ultimate.

  
“... Okay…” He eventually agreed, if only because of Hajime’s last comment. He’d rather die than let the brunette be guilty over him. 

“Good.” He nodded. “Oh- And here. If we’re going to be hanging out, I may as well give you a present to mark the occasion.”   
  
“O-Oh, but Hajime, it’s really not-” He was interrupted by one of the smaller capsules being shoved into his hands unceremoniously. Hajime walked a few steps away, not waiting to hear Nagito’s objections. Distracted, the lucky boy opened it up, curious.

  
There inside lay the first item he’d helped Hajime attain; The small, silver Hope’s Peak ring.   
  
Despite his objections, Nagito couldn’t help a small grin from rising across his face.

  
He was too distracted to notice Hajime, full of new conviction, crush the Man’s Nut underneath his heel just as he had the coconut, before burying it in the sand. If questioned, he decided, he’d justify this to Usami as not being littering since the item was biodegradable and, presumably, able to grow; Though, after Hajime’s attack, he highly doubted that’d actually happen.

In the end, though, it turned out that he wouldn’t have had to worry about that. Usami was caught up in a much more difficult situation…

* * *

“E-Everyone, please calm down!” The small voice of the teacher cried out, drowned out by over a dozen others.

“Give us pay or rue the day.” Peko Pekoyama called out unenthusiastically, hoisting a sign above her head as she spoke.   
  
“Tickets for trips can suck my dick!” Hiyoko called out, giggling. Mahiru sighed beside her, exasperated. 

“At child labor crimes we draw our lines.” Sonia stated, serious. Her eyes, though, sparkled visibly, clearly excited to participate in her first labor protest.

“You tell ‘em, Miss Sonia! Reparations unfair lead to despair!” Kazuichi grinned sharply. 

The gathering, overall, was fairly relaxed; None of the students were taking it particularly seriously, the protest turning into more of a bonding experience than anything else, but nevertheless, Usami was quite distressed. Of the higher-energy students were Ibuki, Sonia, Mahiru, Nekomaru, and Akane. Even they, though, held some sort of humor about the situation; Though changes would certainly be nice, it wasn’t as though this was a life-or-death situation. No one’s focus was 100% dedicated to the protest, most students taking time in between chanting to chat with friends.

  
No one was dead serious about the event… No one except a certain dark-clad student.   
  
“Give us the spoils of war or give us death! To withhold from us the glory we rightfully fought to earn is blasphemy!” Gundham cried out, empassionated. 

“Geez, quiet down! That doesn’t even rhyme!” Akane interrupted, exasperated.

“Why’s he even so invested in this, anyway?” Fuyuhiko questioned. 

Sonia giggled. “He wants to use any Monocoins he might get from this to get gifts for his Four Dark Devas Of Destruction. They tend to enjoy sunflower seeds quite a bit, but they will surely be harder to come by now that the vending machine is gone!” 

“I-I can put it back! Please, just stop shouting, everyone!” Usami wailed out.

(Somewhere in the distance, Hajime shudders.) 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. Nut Quest. Why. 
> 
> Fun Facts:
> 
> -Hajime's luck in this fic is EXTRAORDINARILY bad; According to what little I was able to discern from the statistics, he really should've gotten the nut within the first few tries, considering a Virtual Pet gifts you at LEAST 100 Monocoins per pet raised. If anyone is wondering why this is, I'd blame it on either Despair, because it's Danganronpa, duh, or Nagito's Luck Cycle, since I guess this was an excuse to hang out with him, which is good luck, but also Nagito actually feared for his life the whole time, which is bad luck. Either way, it ties back to luck, so... Convoluted, but eh, good enough of an explanation for me.
> 
> -Hajime accidentally starting Ibuki's Anti-Child Labor Protest wasn't even going to be in the original. But, as soon as I got the idea, I couldn't just leave it out. I can't even remember WHERE I got the idea for that... It was either another conversation with my friend, or just me thinking it'd be funny or something. Maybe both. But, researching into Island Mode to make sure my detailing was somewhat accurate, I discovered that the Trip Tickets are, in fact, really dumb, so it was a win-win I guess! 
> 
> -Gundham is particularly invested in the protests. The only reason I included this detail was because, again, I thought it'd be funny. Honestly, there's not really much of an explanation for that one. But I was talking about the fic with my sibling, and I accidentally came up with a line for him to yell out, so I couldn't NOT include it, even though it didn't make much sense. But, hey, it's a Crack Fic, technically. Why should I care if it's OOC?
> 
> -I used a separate document to write this fic. In this document, the entire fic is written in Comic Sans.
> 
> -I don't actually know how much force it takes to crush a coconut with your heel, but frankly, I don't care. Whoever DOES know will just be all-the-more alarmed to read that line. And hey, if it's physically impossible, just blame that on the ungodly amounts of rage he felt! Like those stories about moms saving kids trapped under cars, but with anger. 
> 
> -I'm not actually sure whether or not Nekomaru would appreciate the Man's Nut as a gift; I looked on the Danganronpa 2 Fan Wiki, but as far as I know, it doesn't say. I think I remember watching someone give him a nut in a playthrough of the game, and I remember him liking it, though. That's the only reason Hajime was gonna hang out with Nekomaru before the Nut Quest occurred; Since I was fairly certain he'd like it as a gift, it'd make sense for him to buy it. 
> 
> -Both Ibuki tackling Hajime and causing the vending machine to break and Teruteru inexplicably throwing the nut into the wall hard enough to shatter it were to help add to the pain of the quest; The vending machine, of course, SLAUGHTERED any need for the 1/117 statistic. As for the nut getting smashed, I needed Hajime to actually have a motivation to find the nut; I don't think he'd have literally ANY reason to go on this quest without having known of its existence beforehand. Also, I thought it would be funny, obviously. 
> 
> -I accidentally came up with lore for how the Man's Nut might work as I wrote the fic; Basically, for evolutionary reasons, it works as an aphrodisiac when held (but only by men, for some reason), and basically makes people thirst after it SO HARD that they kill themselves by stabbing themselves with it. This provides the nut with prime fertilizer to grow into a beautiful Man's Nut Tree! This also helped explain why Nagito reacted so poorly to the nut and gave Hajime motive to not use its ungodly powers, though Nagito's reaction was also due in part to probable violent denial of any sexual feelings he may have, particularly in relation to fantasies including the ever-hopeful Ultimates, particularly relating to the "Ultimate" that happened to be making physical contact with him at the time, which the nut likely caused. 
> 
> -I think, out of all the lines, "Hajime, do you wanna fuck the nut?!" Is probably one of my favorites. I almost didn't include it, if I remember correctly, but then I remembered that I can do what I want, so. 
> 
> -This is, by far, the most NSFW thing I've EVER written. Heck, probably the only even REMOTELY NSFW thing I've written. Wow. 
> 
> -I accidentally got the statistic, 1/117, wrong throughout this ENTIRE thing. I've gone back to fix it now, luckily. I've been writing 317 on accident. This is because you could obtain 300 Monocoins from the Hidden Monokumas. I only realized I was wrong after rereading my poem, so I went back to edit this.
> 
> Anyway, that's it for trivia! If you have any thoughts, feel free to share, that'd be much appreciated. This fic is more unpolished than a lot of my others, but again, it's a Crack Fic, so that's okay. I hope that, despite some of the obvious OOCness of some of the characters, it was entertaining!


End file.
